Daewoo: 'Aerial Fantasy'

DAEWOO: ‘AERIAL FANTASY’ Agency: Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters (London). Creative Dir: Paul Grubb. Art Dir: Mike London. Copywriter: James Fryer. Agency Producer: Kate O’Mulloy. Film Company: Rose Hackney Barber. Dir: Daniel Barber. Producer: Matthew Brown. Post Production: The Mill. Editing: Final Cut. Media: TV. Duration: 30secs. Released: January 2000 (UK) The ‘Lanos’ has an ultra-rigid unibody structure that provides a solid foundation for ride and handling. The Porsche-tuned suspension features MacPherson struts in front and a compound-link design in rear ‘to deliver handling that’s as stable in the straights as it’s nimble in the curves’.i But does the world need another compact car? Korean car manufacturers Daewoo wanted to prove that it did by promoting the compact size and ‘sprightly’ qualities of their new version ‘Lanos’ 3-door vehicle. London agency Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters responded with a TV spot that took stunt driving to radical new heights. It is interesting to see previous research and insights from earlier work that directed its message and how the execution utilises that background and yet also departs from it. It is also a chance to appreciate the construction, filming and editing processes before the final cut. PREVIOUS STRATEGY: Daewoo’s style of commercial had previously been a studio-based production that always used the industry-leading Daewoo aftersales package as the main theme. The executions had played on the quip ‘That’ll be the day’, which is often spoken in response to being told about an event one doesn’t believe will really happen. For example ‘Pigs will fly?...That’ll be the day’. DFGW took this and used it to advertise qualities about the cars, but especially about the sales packages and purchasing experience, turning ‘day’ into ‘Daewoo’. This simultaneously communicated both the unique and radical natures of the Daewoo offers and also made the viewer feel that Daewoo was giving them what they’d always wanted from a car company, but never thought they’d get. ‘A free test drive?...That’ll be the Daewoo’. Daewoo landed in an overcrowded European market and there were several Korean manufacturers vying for shares. They had ambitious targets and therefore had to standout. There was an available niche for a customer-focused brand and Daewoo carried out research to find out what people really wanted from a car company, striking ‘Dialogue’ between Daewoo and car buyers. In view of the results, Daewoo employed non-commissioned salesmen, fixed prices and friendly showrooms where customers could wander around without being pressured into buying. They ignored the traditional dealership structure, opting instead to sell directly, through Daewoo outlets, which gave them more control. In its first year of trading Daewoo gained a 0.92% share of the market. In 1997, the model line-up changed and Daewoo boldly launched three new cars at once, the largest launch ever. DFGW circumvented the problems of a limited budget by narrowing the audience to people who were already warm to the brand, and then attracting them into the store for a test drive. This way they could have an exceptionally rich experience of one of the brand’s strongest assets: its unique and friendly way of doing business. This would enable advertising to move people very close to buying a Daewoo. ‘Dialogue campaigns’ worked mainly because the opinions were acted upon where necessary. They offered people the chance to test drive a Daewoo free, for a year, as an incentive to participate and this was very popular. They also gave Daewoo substantial feedback which allowed the company to improve its offering. Daewoo realised that if people were given a framework, to guide them through the process of test driving a Daewoo and choosing a car, emphasising owning a car as well as buying one, Daewoo’s competitive advantage would be highlighted in the most positive way possible, through direct experience. 'We're very confident in our new range of cars and our groundbreaking service. Now we want customers to compare us directly with the competition.’ This message went down extremely well. INITIAL ADVERTISING: Two briefs were produced, one to communicate the incentive and one to communicate the comparison of the cars with their competition, which could run simultaneously in the same paper. Positionings and likely targets for each car were calculated, using in-house agency quantitative and qualitative research. For example, the ‘Nubira’ Estate would be likely to appeal to: ‘Couples with kids. They do many activities with their children: bike riding at the weekend, the school run, taking their kids to youth orchestra and buying huge amounts of ‘Pedigree Chum’ at Sainsbury’s during the week. They have always got a huge amount of stuff to fit in their car, so they need an Estate.’ The information allowed the creatives to visualise to whom each car might appeal and why, and so understand the kind of ‘tests’ that the cars might be put through in real life. This led to a creative idea for the model ads that encapsulated the idea of testing by showing ‘before’ and ‘after’ views of the cars being put through their paces by their likely target. Obviously, the whole idea required a creative route illustrating the incentive and comparing the cars to the competition; but the decision to split the idea into two separate messages allowed the creative department to produce ads which were focused, and would therefore be more effective, and the targeting analysis allowed them individually to portray the cars how they might be usedii. LATER ADVERTISING: By 1st January 2002, the advertising emphasis had shifted with three new adverts for the ‘Matiz’ and ‘Tacuma’ models. These TV spots were filmed in South Africa, using a very cinematic style, with sharply-filmed and edited storylines emphasising that the ‘Matiz’ and ‘Tacuma’ were both class-leading cars, as good to drive as they were to own. They continued the use of the earlier taglines, but they directed attention to qualities of the vehicles themselves rather than the Daewoo customer service. ‘A car you can park anywhere?...That’ll be the Daewoo ‘Matiz’.’ In the first production, the Matiz is seen looking for a place to park. As it travels round, we see various people who have hurriedly painted double-yellow ‘no-parking’ lines across ridiculously small gaps, such as the doorway of a phone booth and the end of a diving board. The execution captures the fun spirit of the ‘Matiz’ and also demonstrates its practicality for use in the city. A second (20 sec) ‘Matiz’ commercial shows the car approaching a multi-storey car park with a ‘full’ sign outside. The car enters and a moment later, the driver emerges, obviously having squeezed in somewhere. In the ‘Tacuma’ advert, the power of sound highlights the virtues of the optional in-car entertainment system (Sony ‘PlayStation’ or DVD player). A motorcycle traffic policeman is waiting on a quiet road. From a distance we hear the sounds of a car travelling at exceptionally high speed. The policeman prepares himself for a chase and a booking, but round the corner glides the ‘Tacuma’, travelling at a very sedate speed. While the confused police officer looks quizzically at his equipment for faults, the rear window of the car closes, shutting-off the noise of the high-speed engine and squealing tyres. Inside the car, it is revealed that the sounds have been coming from the ‘PlayStation’iii the youngster in the rear seat has been using. A voice-over explains: ‘A choice of in-car entertainment?...That'll be the Daewoo ‘Tacuma’’. According to DFGW, ‘Car ads tend to centre around a set of clichéd back-drops, overly good-looking young couples, driving the car as fast as legally possible around impossibly jaw-dropping landscapes. This...campaign is deliberately contrary to this, with moody locations, few shots of the drivers and, in the case of the ‘Tacuma’ commercial, speed that deliberately parodies the attempts of other car companies to show their vehicles moving fast.’iv Nigel Unwin, Daewoo’s marketing services manager explained that the new ads ‘demonstrate that Daewoo’s products hold solutions to everyday problems such as parking and keeping the kids entertained during long journeys. Traditionally, Daewoo’s industry-leading aftersales package has figured strongly in the advertising but, with the ‘Tacuma’ and the award-winning ‘Matiz’, Daewoo has two models which are class leading and desirable. The feel and style of the adverts reflect that.’v ‘AERIAL FANTASY’: The ‘Aerial Fantasy’ execution came somewhere between the earlier and later marketing strategies, but like the latter, followed Daewoo’s European strategy of concentrating on the individual personality and qualities of each model. As a European release, this time the ad had the endline ‘Designed around you’. The target audience was: ‘Potential ‘Lanos’ drivers across Europe. Typically these are couples in their late 20s and early 30s just starting to settle down and maybe considering marriage. They’ve got increasing responsibilities in their lives (e.g. job, rent/mortgage and setting up home). While they have these new responsibilities in their lives they don’t want to let go of their youth just yet and certainly don’t want a boring car to drive. The design of a car is very important to them and they want a stylish looking car that’s good fun to drive, we want them to understand that the Daewoo Lanos has been designed with these needs in mind’vi. The idea was to communicate that the Daewoo ‘Lanos’ was designed around the needs of a young couple while drawing attention to the fact that it was safe, good fun to drive and had attractive styling.

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